Need some tips & help calibrating my retraction (Pictures)

[joakimjay]

Hey guys! So I am pretty new to S3D, I have been reading the print quality issue guide and been calibrating my settings a bit. I am using the Flashforge Finder, together with the original profile and done some different tweaking with the retraction. I would need some help calibrating it to perfect, let me show you some of the results I have been getting with different settings, so it'll be easier for you guys to help me! (btw I am printing with PLA with a 0,1000 mm primary layer height which is high quality)

Here is the first result, I bumped it up to 220C, using the original Flashforge Finder Retraction settings:

Reraction Distance: 1,00 mm
Extra Restart Distance: 0,00 mm
Retraction Vertical Lift: 0,00 mm
Retraction Speed: 1200,0 mm/min
Coasting Distance: none
Wipe Distance: none

What I found is that 220C was a little bit too much, and it still got really stringy with the original retraction settings.

Second result, I changed to 210C which was way better, still with the original retraction settings

Reraction Distance: 1,00 mm
Extra Restart Distance: 0,00 mm
Retraction Vertical Lift: 0,00 mm
Retraction Speed: 1200,0 mm/min
Coasting Distance: none
Wipe Distance: none

I still think this is too stringy, although the surface looked a bit better with the lower temperature.

Third result, keeping 210C, but changing the retraction settings quite a bit.

Reraction Distance: 10,00 mm
Extra Restart Distance: 0,00 mm
Retraction Vertical Lift: 0,00 mm
Retraction Speed: 5000,0 mm/min
Coasting Distance: 0,20 mm
Wipe Distance: 4,00 mm

I found that there was much less stringing! But still a little bit, but when I raised the settings I found that the finish was not near as smooth as it was with normal retraction settings. Now the finish is looking much more "unsmooth".

I want to get rid of the stringing and still keep a good quality on the print, anyone got any suggestions on which setting to change and how much etc? I hope you guys can help me, I would be so thankful. Cheers!

[knabo]

I have been working on this myself. I have a delta printer but the concepts will be the same.

First off, for a direct drive extruder, you should only have to retract a couple of millimeters at most. Any more and you risk clogging.
My current settings (Rostock Max V3) are:
Retraction Distance: 4,00 mm
Extra Restart Distance: 0,00 mm
Retraction Vertical Lift: 2,00 mm
Retraction Speed: 1200,0 mm/min
Coasting Distance: 2,00 mm
Wipe Distance: none

The other important factor is print temperature. Different filament colors and manufacturers will be different, but I am currently using yellow PLA generic brand. I am printing at 185C

The idea is that you print at the lowest temperature you can.

[Kurz009]

You should probably keep settings from your second attempt and start changing your travel/print speeds. What's worked for me is to increase the travel speed and slow the print speed (although it looks like your print speed is fine).